Lap drawing and doubling machine.



No. 630,813. Patented Aug. 8, i899. J. T. MEATS.

LAP DRAWING AND DOUBLING MACHINE.

Application filed Jan. 5, 1899.) mo Mo el.) 2 SheatsSheet Patented Aug. 8, I899.

J. T. MEATS.

LAP DRAWING AND DOUBLING MACHINE.

No. 630,8I3.

(Application filed Jam 5, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet z (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. MEATS, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MASON MACHINE WORKS, OF SAME PLACE.

LAP DRAWING AND DOUBLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,813, dated August 8, 1899.

Application filed January 5, 1899. Serial No. 701,206. (No model.)

1'1) MU "It-71,0711 it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN T. MEATS, of Taunton, county of Bristol, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Lap Drawing and Doubling Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

six, each supported between two stands, as

on drawing-frames, each set of rolls being arranged to take one lap of the form used on the combing-machine. These laps after having been drawn or attenuated in the usual way and delivered at right angles to the sets of drawing-rolls are each passed over an angle-plate to thereby change the direction of movement of the laps to a path parallel with the axes of the drawing-rolls, in which path the several laps are superposed and conducted to the lap-head of the machine, where they are again formed into a single lap of about the same weight per yard as before being drawn and doubled. After the laps have been drawn in the proportion of about six to one they become very thin and light, hardly thick enough to have the necessary cohesion to reach the lap-head, and it frequently happens that in passing from the angle-plate the lap or web breaks, necessitating the stopping of the machine for the tedious processes of piecing up, a process which cannot possibly be performed without causing an uneven place in the lap, to say nothing of the waste which maybe made before the attendant notices the broken web or of the danger of breakage caused by lapping on the front roll, there being no stop-motion controlled from in front of the drawing-rolls by or through breakage or failure of the drawn lap.

In my present invention the direction of travel of the lap or thin web is not changed after leaving the drawing-rolls, so that the use of the angle-plate is abolished, and I have also provided controlling means for the stop-motion, located at both the back and front of the drawing-rolls, so that in case the Web should break or fail either at the back or in front of the rolls the machine will be automatically and instantly stopped.

Figure 1 in side elevation and broken out between its ends representsalap drawing and doubling machine embodying one form of my invention, the lap-head shown being of usual construction. Fig. 2 is a left-hand end elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the belt-shipper being omitted. Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the last or right-hand end set of drawing-rolls shown in Fig. l to show more clearly the construction of the stop-motion-controlling means and also a portion of the stop-motion not shown clearly in Fig. 1. 'Fig. at is a partialtransverse view of the drawing and feed rolls shown in Fig. 3, with the gearing for actuating the same; and Fig. 5 is a partially-diagrammatic View of the gearing shown in Fig. 4.

The main frame comprises an upright end portion A, connected by longitudinal girders or beams A with, the frame L of the laphead L, the latter being of usual construction, and upon the main frame I have erected a series of upright stands a along the rear side, connected by a suitable box or other beam at, extended longitudinally of the machine, to form a support for the bearing-rolls of the wound laps B.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, arms a are extended laterally from the beam ct and upturned at their outer ends to form bearings a for the journals at the front ends of bearing or lap rolls b, preferably fluted and upon 5 which the lap rests, the journals at the rear ends of said rolls being supported in brackets a, (see Fig. 1,) mounted on the longitudinal support or beam ct.

In my present invention I have arranged the sets of drawing-rolls in tandem on the frame of the machine that is to say, the sevoral sets of drawing-rolls are arranged one behind the other with theiraxes inparallelismand usually there will be six sets of rolls forming a complete machine, each set of rolls receiving its lap from the roll B supported above it, and inasmuch as one set of rolls is precisely like another set I shall herein describe but a single set.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, open stands (1, arranged in pairs, are mounted on the girders A, said stands being provided with bearings cl of usual construction for the drawing-rolls d arranged in pairs one above the other, as is common, and I have herein shown four pairs of rolls constituting each set. The rolls of a set are located below the lap-bearing rolls Z). The lapt as it leaves the boss is carried around a back stop-roll (1 preferably rotatably mounted in rockerarms d fulcrumed at their lower ends at d on the stands d, one of said arms, as best shown in Fig. 3, having a shoulder 61 normally held by the pull or tension of the lap out of the path of movement of a lugf, fast on a rock-shaft f mounted on the roll-stand and provided with a depending arm f, pivotally connected to a connecting-rod f extended continuously below the several sets of drawing-rolls, as shown in Fig. 3, and connected with the rocker-arm f on the stand of each set. This bar is provided at its forward end with a laterally-projecting pin or stud f which enters the'inclined slot f of a link f shown best in Fig. 3 as provided at its opposite end with a strap f to embrace an eccentric f fast on the shaft L of one of the drawing-rolls of the lap-head, so that by rotation of said shaft the link f will be normally reciprocated longitudinally to impart a similar movement to the rod f and thereby rock the arms f and their shafts f in unison.

Should the lap zffail or break on its way to the back drawing-rolls of a set, the back stoproll (1 will be permitted to move into dottedline position, Fig. 3, bringing the shoulder d into position to engage and stop the lug f of the adjacent rock-shaft, and the reciprocatory movement of the connecting-rod f will also be stopped thereby.

Owing to the inclination of the slot f the link f will be lifted-as it is moved in the direction of the arrow 10, Fig. 3, upon such stoppage of the connecting-rod)" into dotted-line position, and as it is so raised it will lifta depending rod f said rod being overturned at its upper end atf to rest on the link f and pivotallyconnected at its lower end at f to a dog or detent f fulcrumed on the frame atf This dog normally enters a notch g in a shipper-rod g, extended longitudinally of the machine and connected at its opposite end to an arm g (see Fig. 1,) having attached thereto the'belt-fork g a suitable spring S being attached at one end to the shipper-rod and at its other end to the frame of the machine, said spring normally tending to move the shippevrod in the direction of the arrow 12, Figs. 1 and 3. \Vhen the link f is lifted, as has been described,thedog or detent f is disengaged from the shipper-rod, and the latter is moved by its spring S to shift the belt from the fast to the loose pulley to thereby stop the machine.

After the lap has been drawn it passes from the front drawing-rolls without changing its forward direction of movement between suitable feed orcalender rolls 0 and onto a fixed, as herein shown, horizontal support or table T, Fig. 1, upon which it travels to the drawingrolls of the lap-head, and as the drawn laps are delivered from each set of drawing-rolls they will be superposed one upon the other, so that such compound lap, as it may be termed, will pass to the lap-head L.

Itis highly important that the stop-motion for the machine be controlled by or through breakage or failure of the drawn lap, and in addition to the controlling means for the stopmotion operated by or through breakage'or failure of the lap at the back of the rolls I have provided means, located at the front of the drawing-rolls, to also control the operation of the stop-motion.

Between the front drawing-rolls and the feed or calender rolls 0 I have interposed'a tilting apron h, preferably made of thin sheet metal, fulcrumed at h on the drawing-roll stand and serving as a guide or support under normal conditions for the drawn lap on its Way to the rolls 0, said apron having attached thereto at its under side a rearwardlyextended arm h provided with an adjustable weight to, said arm and its weight tending to tilt the apron into dotted-line position, Fig. 3, such tendency being counteracted by the drawn lap as it passes thereover. The free end of the arm h is arranged above one end of a lever 7L fulcrumed at h on the stand,

the otherand heavier end of said lever being thereby normally retained out of the pathof movement of a lug f on the rock-shaftf When the drawn lap breaks or fails, the apron h tilts on its fulcrum into dotted-line position and raises the rear end of the lever it into the path of and to stop the rocking movement of the lug f and its rock-shaftf and, as has been before described, such stoppage will act to efiect the operation of the stop-motion, and thereby stop the machine. The upper end, as h of the apron may be bent over and extended beneath the lower one of the front pair of drawing-rolls, to be depressed by winding of a lapend on the lower roll. Each set-of drawing-rolls is provided with such stop motion controlling means operated by or through breakage or failure of the drawn lap.

While the tandem arrangement of the sets of drawing-rolls herein shown involves more gearing than in the machines heretofore constructed, such addition is more than over balanced by the abolition of the very expensive angle-plates for changing the direction of movement of the drawn laps, inasmuch as these plates must in the first place be finished with the greatest nicety and thereafter be kept constantly polished to the highest degree in order to prevent the sticking or breaking of the thin web, a source of much trouble with such machines under certain atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, the delicate operation of changing the direction of movement of so thin a web restricted the speed of the machine to a comparatively low limit, as did also the lack of any form of controlling device for the stop-motion operated by or through the drawn lap.

The frame of the machine is provided with suitable bearings fora main shaft M, having fast and loose pulleys M M thereon, Fig. 1, and a pinion m in mesh with a gear m, mounted on the end A of the machine, said gear m driving by means of an intermediate gear m a third gear m fast on an actuatingshaft 07%, extended longitudinally of the machine and mounted in suitable bearings on the stands a at the back of the machine. This common actuating-shaft is connected by suitable gearing with and to drive the drawing-rolls of each set and the bearing-rolls b for the lap-roll.

Referring to Fig. 4, the shaft 'm has a bevel-pinion m thereon opposite each set of drawing-rolls and in mesh with a like pinion m on the extended shaft d of the lower roll d of the back pair, and from this shaft by suitable gears M Figs. 4 and 5, of usual construction the several pairs of rolls forming a set are driven, and as such specific gearing forms no part of my invention and is of old and well-known construction in the art I have not deemed it necessary herein to describe it in detail. A sprocket-wheel m on the last or extreme left-hand shaft (1 is connected by a sproeket-wheel m on a shaft m supported on the stand a, said shaft m having fast upon it a pinion m in mesh with a gear Z1 (see Fig. 2,) fast on the shaft 6 of one of the bearing-rolls b, to drive the latter positively through an intermediate pinion b to rotate a gear b on the front bearingroll of the pair, whereby the lap-roll B will be positively rotated to unwind it.

I prefer to transmit rotation to the several sets of lap supporting or bearing rolls?) from the pair driven, as described, and for this purpose the shaft m has fast upon its rear end a bevel-pinion m, in mesh with a like pinion m on a shaft m extended along the back of the machine and mounted in suitable bearings on the beam a. Adjacent each of the other pairs of lap-rolls b is a similar intermediate shaft m provided with abevelpinion m to engage a like pinion m on the shaft m, the shaft m also having a pinion m to drive the gear I) of it adjacent set of rolls.

I have shown in Figs.- 4 and 5 the journal of the lower calender-roll c of each pair as provided with a bevel-pinion 0 in mesh with a like pinion c on a shaft 0 extended upward to engage through a bevel-gear c on its upper end a like gear c on the shaft of the lower one of the front pair of drawing-rolls (Z of the corresponding set.

The stop-motion for the machine, comprising, essentially, the belt-shipper, shipper-rod g, and detent or dog I, is controlled as to its operation by or through any of the several laps before the laps are drawn as well as afterward, and this latter is a most important feature and broadly new, so far asI am aware.

The devices intermediate the lap as it enters and leaves the set of drawing-rolls and the stop-motion constitute controlling means for the latter, so that the operation of the stop-motion will be effected by or through an abnormal condition of the lap.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction and arrangement shown, as the same may be varied or rearranged without departing from the scope or spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a lap drawing and doubling machine, a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls arranged in tandem, and means to superpose the drawn laps or thin webs one upon the other without change in their direction of movement and to move them longitudinally in unison.

2. In a lap drawing and doubling machine, a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls arranged in tandem, a common actuating-shaft extended longitudinally of the machine, connections intermediate said shaft and the sets of drawing-rolls, to actuate the latter, and means to superpose the drawn laps one upon another as theyleave the drawing-rolls without change in their direction of movement.

3. In a lap drawing and doubling machine, a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls arranged in tandem, a bearing for and arranged to unwind the boss or lap, located above each set of drawing-rolls, means to actuate said bearings, and a support for the drawn laps, over which they travel from the rolls without change in their direction of movement.

4. In a lap drawing anddoubling machine, a plurality oflsets of drawing-rolls, a stop-motion for the machine, and tilting guides for the drawn laps, constituting also members of controlling means for the stop-motion, a guide being located in front of each set of drawingrolls and operated by or through breakage or failure of a drawn lap to effect actuation of the stop-motion.

5. In a lap drawing and doubling machine, a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls, arranged in tandem, a support for the drawn laps, over which they travel from the drawing-rolls without change in their direction of movement, a stop-motion for the machine, and controlling means therefor located between each set of rolls and said support, operative by or through breakage or failure of a drawn lap to stop the machine.

6. In a lap drawing and doubling machine, a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls arranged in tandem, a stop-motion for the machine, and controlling means therefor adjacent each set of rolls, said means comprising independent members located respectively at the back and in front of the corresponding set of drawing-rolls, to efiect the operation of the stopmotion upon breakage or failure of the lap as it enters the drawing-rolls or after ithas been drawn.

7. In a lap drawing and doubling machine, a plurality of sets of drawing-rolls arranged in tandem, a stop-motion for the machine, a support below the drawing-rolls and extended in the direction of travel of the drawn JOHN T. MEATS.

lVitnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, MABEL PARTELOW. 

